ITDE

C August 11, 2010 at 6:29 a.m.

In addition...

Anyway...Before you start on a PhD or EdD, read reviews about the school and talk to some students who attend there. Go to the school and hang out in the cafeteria or somewhere where you can actually talk to the students. The professors are bias and will tell you anything. They are removed from reality. KNOW what you are getting into. The coursework is no harder than the BS or MS programs. I found the coursework at NSU rather easy. AND, everything related to the last course or two you had. Half the hours were reitterated in other courses called different things. You buy a lot of books at NSU, some you might never even open. Communicate with other students you have classes with as they may have had previous classes and books you might need. Communicate.

NSU was an okay school if you did not have a Thesis or a Dissertation. If you do be prepared to take a while to complete it, if you do. OR, you might get a great advisor and or committee. It is a high chance that you will not. You do not pick your advisor and or your committee members. You fill out an interest form early in the program and that decides who you get.

AND remember, IF you get an advisor or committee member who SUCKS at guiding you, don't waste your time with that same person. ASK to get another one. BUt, remember you won't get much resistance the first time you want to change, but I don't know if you will get another change.

Anyway, maybe this will help.

Get and editor who understands your topic and field for your work and an editor for your APA style. It will only help.

Thanks, C...

"Dedication can turn to Burn Out under any circumstance"...

C August 11, 2010 at 6:28 a.m.

You always have these people, students, who say that the dissertation is ALL up to the desire, determination, etc. of the student. Well, that is BS. You can have ALL the determination and want in the world and if you have NO advice and NO assistance rom an advisor who is being PAID to help you then YOU will be lost and WASTE years of time trying to no avail. These advisors are PAID each semester to HELP you, PAID that is...PAID...

If the advisor does not know what is expected or accepted you will spin your wheels for years. Sit and Spin...

The dissertation at NSU, that you write, does not have to please YOU, it has to please the professors on your committee. If ALL of them are not interested in your topic specifically, then you will NOT pass on to the next stage. You have 3 stages. The concept paper, the proposal, and the final. The CP is 12 to 15 pages of a brief about what you propose to study. The CP may not sound like much, but to egt the generally required 60 to 100 plus references you must research a lot of articles, books, disserations, etc., and I mean a lot. This takes a LOT of time. If you do 2 or 3 or 4 CP's before you get approved, it is a lot of reading and writing. Specially if the advisor does not know what is expected or acceptable. They are getting PAID to know this. They are paid to know if a TOPIC may be acceptable by a certain professor.

You are picking a topic that is of interest to 2, 3 or 4 other people, YOUR opinion and interests are of NO consequence...If ONE of the professors does not agree, then you are back to square 1...

Dedication means nothing if you have no GUIDANCE. Don't let the graduates who hit the nail on the head the first time give you a false sense of ease. They hit the nail on the head ONE time out of ONE THOUSAND. They may be good or great at research. They may have a better sense of what is needed or applicable in their field. May, I said. OR, they may have just lucked out. Luck has a big role here. Each semester as technologies change and new information is found, the rules for dissertations change. They become more complex when the professors gain more knowledge. You can liken it to the child that is in the GIFTED program. More is expected from the GIFTED children. You are graded on a different and higher scale than the other children. You can't just let the child be good at somehting and give them praise, you have to make things harder for them. That is not fair. If something is easier for them, let them do a good job and finish early, don't penalize them and give them more work.

Thanks,  C

C August 10, 2010 at 1:11 a.m.

I don't have much of a choice, than to try and complete the degree program.  If I had another choice I would surely take it. I have spent about 70k so far on the EdD at NSU. It would be such a waste to not try and complete it. I wish I could find another school that would transfer my credits and grant me a degree without the dissertation requirement. I would jump on board. I know many other students at NSU that would too, as there are any in the same boat as I. Many...You would not believe how many. If you know of a school I will pass it on...

Thanks, C

C August 6, 2010 at 11:25 p.m.

I have recently completed all the course requirements of the EdD degree in the ITDE department. I have been working dilligently for the past three years on the dissertation part of the degree. The first three years I had a dissertation advisor who was a boob and did not know what was expected by the dissertation committee. I sent in three dissertation concept papers and got them all turned down. I wasted my time. I had my dissertation advisor changed, the new one is extremely helpful and available. NOW, after three years of killing myself I am burnt out.

Anyway, the school should keep a better track on the students and who the advisors are. The dissertation should be one the STUDENT is interested in, but NO, it has to be of interest to the dissertation commitee members.

Also, After you complete the coursework in 2 to 3 years it is a $2450 a semester fee to keep in the program until you finish the degree.

Like I said, I am ABD - All But Dissertation. AND don't know what to do next, as the future of completing the dissertation looks bleak and unattainable.

Thanks, C